Author: José Saramago

I’ve always enjoyed books by this author but I had a hard time getting through this one. I was averaging about a chapter a night (although the book isn’t actually divided by chapters) and not getting very far into it. I had a chance today to spend a few hours reading and I have to admit I enjoyed it more today than I did before. The author has a very particular way of writing, and often more than one characters is speaking in the same very long sentence. I mentioned to Pat that I thought I might have enjoyed an audio version of the book.

In the story the Iberian Peninsula has split apart from Europe and is floating in the Atlantic Ocean. As scientists and governments try to figure out how this happened tourists and the wealthy begin fleeing the area. When it appears that this new island is going to crash into the Azores the residents along the ocean front begin to flee inland to avoid the impending disaster.

Four people had strange experiences at the time of the separation. One is followed by a swarm of starlings, and one threw a stone into the ocean that turned out to be a rock so large it seemed impossible that he could have even lifted it. A third man could feel the ground trembling beneath his feet and one woman drew a line in the dirt with a stick and no matter what was done the line would not disappear. They all meet during the story and are led to a fifth person by a dog who cannot bark but clearly expects the group to follow him.

Strange? Yes, but somehow it is entertaining rather than weird.

Goodreads Rating: * * *